Press Releases

Yarmouth Fire Department Welcomes State-of-the-Art Rescue Unit

The brand new Heavy Rescue Unit replaces Truck #14, which will be sold to the Eel Brook Fire Department for $1

Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - Yarmouth, N.S. - The Yarmouth Fire Department welcomed its newest member this week: a 2019 Pierce Heavy Rescue unit. The cutting edge unit was manufactured by MAXIMETAL and purchased from Micmac Fire & Safety in Dartmouth. The Pierce Heavy Rescue brings a variety of improvements and features that will make rescue work both safer and more efficient for Town Firefighters.

Yarmouth Fire Chief John Verrall received the unit at the Fire Hall on Monday and expressed excitement over how the truck allows bringing more equipment to a scene, saving critical time. "Put simply, we'll be able to transport more rescue equipment and personnel which makes us faster and more effective once on the scene", said Verrall. "We're now armed with scene lighting which greatly improves our rescue capability in adverse weather conditions and darkness. The unit also has better extraction equipment that requires far less setup making us faster at motor vehicle accidents. We now have far greater storage capacity so we can head out with everything we need without having to return for more equipment."

Further to the advantages of increased carrying capacity, Verrall adds "the unit carries numerous breathing apparatus and air bottles. This completely removes the time we used to need to refill air bottles at a scene using the old cascade air bottle system. It also provides lightweight bottles which use less of our firefighters' energy which helps them recover faster and perform tasks more safely".

The new unit was paid for by Town of Yarmouth at a cost of $690,000 and will serve the entire Yarmouth fire district, which includes a large portion of the Municipality of Yarmouth. The new acquisition demonstrates the Town's commitment to providing a high level of fire services to taxpayers, while also showing fiscal responsibility. The investment was made without incurring debt and required no fundraising.

Fire personnel are currently being trained to drive and fully operate the truck. The unit it replaces - a 1988 GMC 700 tagged as "#14" - will see a new home at the Eel Brook and Districts Fire Department.